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YOUR RESEARCHCLEAN your drains now
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Clean drains about 2 years ago during a battery
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I cleaned my drains about 2 years ago during a battery change and took some photos so show what can end up in those drains.
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Rain has been torrential this month and it was cleaned prior to my purchase in may this year
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I removed all the tessa tape in that area and replaced with new.
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As far as the battery tray, I used a rattle can spray bed liner......very lightly on the battery tray after cleaning out those drains.
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Suggestion
Ummm, and my Mini Cooper has the same type of cowl drains that need checking, thus my "get over it" is not specific to Porsche and a "horrible design".
Clean drains every single dealer visit and be sure the
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Suggestion
Lesson from the story is, on the modern Porsches, make sure they clean the drains every single dealer visit and be sure the cleaning is recorded on the service records.
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Rain has been torrential this month and it was cleaned prior to my purchase in may this year
Water marks show it went up to half my battery and shorted out my regulator a $600 repair all from clogged drains so be careful and vacuum often
Thanks very much for the PSA. I've never done this, but will do as soon as I get a chance.
Note to self: 1) Find out where the drains are; 2) Clean them
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I need to replace my brake booster. Won't know until the part is out but my guess is, water go into in from the battery area because a drain is clogged.
Use a little caution when pushing through the debis. The rubber drain grommets push though pretty easy and can wind up on top of the fuel tank. At that point they r pretty much lost.
I cleaned my drains about 2 years ago during a battery change and took some photos so show what can end up in those drains. I would say even if you don't get leaves, you can see that as the tessa tape ages and deteriorates, it will clog those drains and then dust/debris build up on top of it. I removed all the tessa tape in that area and replaced with new.
What they should look like:
I just bought a one owner Cayenne that was dealer serviced for it's life. The car was at the dealer at least 2 times a year. And each year one of the items on the list was 'Clean Water Drains". Seems it needs to be a yearly check just before rains start. Maybe again after all foliage is off of trees.
My 996 cab had clogged rear drains. It is also missing the rubber pieces in the front. What happens if the rubber isn't there to direct the flow of water?
On my 09 Audi s4 cabriolet the rear drains clogged overflowing into the car
which burned out my computer which was stupidly placed under the drivers seat without any drains $1800 in damage
Also an issue on the Macan. I had Macan water issues, still under warranty, and the dealer wasn't going to cover it because the drains weren't cleaned in the prior service. He was flat-out lying, as the service schedule for cleaning drains is actually every other service (every other year). They've apparently since learned that it is needed every year, at least. Another (reputable) dealer took care of it without an issue, though it took them a while to solve it. Lesson from the story is, on the modern Porsches, make sure they clean the drains every single dealer visit and be sure the cleaning is recorded on the service records. These drainage issues are a very common/expensive problem that doesn't get enough press on the modern cars. I never knew it was a "thing" until I found out the hard way it was a thing
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Pretty horrible design on all the modern Porsches because expensive stuff gets damaged when the drains clog -- there is no "fail safe" or alert -- and they get clogged very easily. Seems like Porsche always have one major flaw that sticks around for a decade or so before they fix it -- clogged drain damage on modern cars, IMS bearing going a few years back, timing chain tensioners going way back. All of those problems were around for many, many years before finally being solved. Is "German precision" the right phrase, or is it German stubbornness?
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During a comprehensive PPI of my former �01 C4, the dealership tech removed these black rubber grommets stating they were not necessary and prone to clogging. Never had a problem with them removed. The tech also stated there was a technical bulletin issued on these.
Get over it. Clean your drains out. Just do it. Really? You have to take it to a dealer to remove some leaves or clutter from your drains? One little screw and you can remove the cowl covers and check yourself. Ummm, and my Mini Cooper has the same type of cowl drains that need checking, thus my "get over it" is not specific to Porsche and a "horrible design".
The drain grommets in the above pictures are the updated grommets with the slit in the sides that allow for the water to totally drain. The original drain gromments did not have the slit or opening in the side. I believe that is what the technical bulletin was about, not removing them entirely. (but I could be wrong...who has access to the technical bulletins?)
I 2nd that request�. A copy of the tech bulletin would be great! Also, I�ve heard the Cabs rear drains are particularly prone to clogging - Can someone describe (better yet provide pics) of where are they located? And, how to access them?
Thanks!!!
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For a 20 year old car like the 996, I expect to clean the drains and appreciate you posting the diagrams. I just installed motor mounts, and did the front radiators and several other things. I enjoy rolling up my sleeves for older cars. I have a 60's car that I restored to new, enjoyed every minute of it. For a new car, I expect it to "just work" with regular dealer service intervals. That's why I buy a new car so I don't have to think about it and can focus on the classic/vintage cars.
Now, if the dealer who sold me the Macan had told me to clean the drains regularly and showed me where they were, you might have 5% of a point about me cleaning them (but not about the bad design), but the dealer didn't say anything about it. There is nothing in the owners manual about cleaning them either. And cleaning the drains isn't even in the 10k maintenance schedule. How am I supposed to clean something I don't even know exists or is "a thing"? So, when I took it in for the 20k service, under full warranty, with only 16k miles on the car, and I received a call from the dealer that I better open a case with the insurance company to cover the damage, it's wasn't very welcome news -- but I guess I should have psychically known there were drains that could clog.
The reason it can be ridiculously expensive is because wiring harnesses, electronics, and the subwoofer in the tire well get buried in water and you never know it. There can also be mildew damage in addition that is extremely expensive to resolve (which fortunately I did not have). Design-wise, if they had simply put a drain in the spiillover area (the spare tire well), it couldn't cause major damage. That's called a "fail safe" and it should have it instead of needlessly causing thousands of dollars of damage. It also is not as straight-forward to fix the drains as you think -- it took 5 (five) individual services over a period of 3 months to fix the problem. I got to drive every Macan flavor and a Cayenne in loaner cars for weeks while they tried to solve it. That second dealer was absolutely great to work with, but they had a hell of a time solving it. If you read about it, you'll see that it's a very common problem that can cause massively expensive damage -- and the problem dates back to at least 2014. It's a bad design and the criticality of cleaning the drains is not publicly known enough for people to know to be proactive about it. That's why, like the OP, I did a PSA so others don't have to needlessly go through hell.
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Thanks for the reminder. I try and check them at least once per year. For cars that sit outside, or see considerably more mileage, more often would probably be advised.
Because I�m clueless, what does PSA stand for?
How are people cleaning these out?
Lastly what is Tessa tape?
I think any of these posts where someone takes the time to photograph what they do is useful, even if it�s just basic maintenance stuff. I wouldn�t know it�s an issue unless someone brought it up.
PSA = Public Service Announcement
Clean out with pressurized air nozzle and/or water with a plastic long fishing tape
Tessa tape is the wrap tape that they wrap around conduits wiring. etc. to keep in place and/or stop rattling. it deteriorates after so many years!
I just popped them out and wiped down with a microfiber rag. I cleaned the entire battery compartment area.
Tessa tap is actually a brand, but it's like kleenex - people just end up calling it the brand name. I'm referring specifically to the cloth type tape that's used to protect wiring from chaffing.
Working on the interior of my car yesterday I noticed the drivers side footwell was damp and we had some rain go through our area recently.
Looks like I need to check my drains. Glad I stumbled across this thread. The diagrams will be very useful!
Need to check all my drains. These threads come in pieces, and each one only talks about a subset.
but here's what I think there is in total:
3 drains under front cowel
1 drain for AC in passenger footwell
2 drains in sunroof on driver side Coupe ? more behind seats if you have a Cab.
Am I missing any? What else?
I can see cleaning the cowel and AC drains physically and with compressed air.
How does one clean the sunroof drains? I looked and can see a bit of foam in the corners that might be the drain inlet, but other than seeing the foam and clearing any obvious debris, what else can I do?
I found that using a Tuba brush, I think that someone on an old post suggested that a brush that is used to clean the musical instrument worked the best to clean out the back drains cabs. As far as the battery tray, I used a rattle can spray bed liner......very lightly on the battery tray after cleaning out those drains.
I haven't done the 996 drains yet but on the BMWs, I use weed-eater filament. If it's stubborn, you can put the filament in a drill at very slow speed.
Oh man, I'm late to conversation but I might have a worse case scenario on clogged drains. I already dropped a video on unclogging your cabrio drains but the front tub drains were WAY WORSE:
I had to buy a donor tray and new bolts. I discovered rust in the firewall that will have to be addressed. I haven't dropped this video yet but wait till you see the carnage.
